


waiting for something to do

by torigates



Category: How I Met Your Mother
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-11-04
Updated: 2013-11-04
Packaged: 2017-12-31 12:45:50
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,093
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1031846
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/torigates/pseuds/torigates
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"Repeat after me: I will not have sex with Marshall."</p>
            </blockquote>





	waiting for something to do

 

 

  
Lily and Marshall tell the story of how they met like a choreographed dance. They know when to pause for laughter, and when to look lovingly at each other. After more than ten years pf listening to them go through the moves, Ted knew the story just as well as they did--maybe even better. He had heard the story so many times he almost knows it better than his own memory.

Each time they tell the story it’s the same: Lily was drawn to Ted and Marshall’s room as if by fate. But Ted knew fate had a hand in it before that: fate made him Marshall’s roommate first.

It was something he hung on to.

There are a lot of things about his freshman year that Ted isn’t proud of. Sure, he can look back on his pretentiousness with a certain amount of fondness (spectacles just _sounds_ cooler), but he knew he was kind of a dick some of the time, and all right, when it came to Marshall a really huge ass most of the time.

There were excuses, of course. Starting with Karen. Karen, well--Karen wasn’t someone he liked to think about a lot. He isn’t proud of the person he turned into around her, and he still blamed her for a lot of shitty things she put him through. Karen wasn’t the whole story, or even the main reason why Ted was so horrible, at least at first. Karen is the version Lily and Marshall like to pull out when they’re trying to embarrass him. He always lets them, and smiles at his past foolishness. She was the one who got him in that car with Marshall, and that car ride changed everything.

Ted hadn’t wanted to go with Marshall. He didn’t want to spend the time alone with him because he didn’t like to think about Marshall too much. Didn’t like to think about how he felt about Marshall.

Marshall was the kind of person Ted never would have hung out with in high school. He was smart and funny, he got along with everyone. He was easy going and fun--just the type of guy everyone wanted to be around. He was also good looking.

He always came back from the showers with just a pair of boxers on, his hair still dripping wet. Ted watched out of the corner of his eye from his desk while Marshall shook out his hair. It reminded Ted of the family dog he had growing up. The way Marshall would bound into the room, all limbs and hair. Ted tried not to notice the faint outline of his roommate’s dick through the thin fabric of his boxers. It was hard to look away.

“Put some clothes on,” Ted complained. “You’re like an animal.”

Marshall rolled his eyes, but put on a pair of sweatpants or jeans, and that made Ted feel even worse. Like he was making trouble. He just wanted Marshall to like him, but he didn’t know how to make that happen. It seemed like every time Ted opened his mouth he only made things worse between the two of them.

Lily spent the night in their dorm room a lot. From the top bunk Ted could hear the sounds of them making out; the rustle of fabric, soft sighs, the whisper of skin against skin. Ted knew he shouldn’t feel jealous. He knew that if he _was_ going to feel jealous, it should be of Marshall. He knew that. Sometimes, late at night when Lily came over, and he could hear them underneath him, hear the sounds they were making, he _hated_ Lily. _He’s my roommate_ , he wanted to tell her. _I’ll be here after you’re gone_.

After they fell asleep, Ted would touch himself. He hated himself for it, but even after they their breathing had evened out, and the two of them had drifted off, Ted could still hear the sounds Marshall made, could still hear his faint grunts and groans. He couldn’t help it.

Nights when Lily didn’t come over were worse. He could hear the faint slap of skin on skin as Marshall jerked himself off, and sometimes Ted would have to bite his fist so hard to stop himself from crawling into Marshall’s bunk, holding his hips down and sucking him until he came. He wanted that. Wanted the taste of Marshall on his tongue, the feel of his hips beneath Ted’s. He wanted it so bad it hurt sometimes.

Then Karen broke up with him. Again.

Ted hadn’t been planning on going home. He definitely hadn’t planned on endless hours on end in a confined space with Marshall. These things just seemed to happen to Ted.

Then they got lost. Without any food. Everything changed.

Ted had to listen to Marshall talk about how much he loved Lily. How he wanted to _marry_ her someday, and he was overwhelmed by the intensity of his jealousy. He hated that he felt that way. He hated Marshall. He hated Lily, he hated everything about the whole situation. It wasn’t fair.

Marshall was hard against the back of his thigh. “Are you still thinking about Lily?” Ted asked.

“Yeah,” Marshall hummed.

Ted wanted to cry. He wanted to punch Marshall. He wanted to not feel this way. “Please stop,” he said.

Marshall didn’t say anything. Ted turned his head slightly, bringing their faces within inches of each other, and suddenly it was all too much. All of his feelings, all the animosity between the two of them, all the nights Ted had to stay listen to Lily and Marshall getting each other off, while Ted was alone. Alone, except for a girlfriend who couldn’t stop cheating on him, and a crush on his roommate.

It wasn’t fair.

Marshall looked at him, and Ted forgot all that. He forgot that they were trapped in a car in the middle of a blizzard and everything else. He forgot everything except for Marshall’s face, and how much he liked him.

Ted grabbed Marshall behind the ears, and pulled their faces together. It wasn’t so much of a kiss as opposed to violently mashing their mouths together. He opened his mouth and bit Marshall’s lips, licking inside his mouth when Marshall gasped against them. He could still feel Marshall’s erection digging into his leg, and he shifted bringing their hips together and taking Marshall’s full weight.

It wasn’t pretty. It wasn’t even nice. Ted jammed his hands into the front of Marshall’s pants, and palmed him, his fingers curling around Marshall’s dick. It was fast and messy, and Marshall licked inside of Ted’s mouth, and down his neck, even as he was thrusting violently into Ted’s hand. He came with a shout, and bit Ted’s neck. He was definitely going to have a hickey there later, and that was going to be awkward to explain.

They lay together, their harsh breathing the only sound in the otherwise silent car. Ted was still painfully hard, and when Marshall shifted, he couldn’t help the way his hips bucked against him, looking for some kind of relief. Marshall looked down at him wide-eyed, as if noticing for the first time Ted was there.

Ted opened his mouth to say something, anything, but before he could Marshall pressed his hips back down and mouthed the side of his neck, urging Ted on. His hips bucked up a few more times and he was coming so hard, coming from his roommate’s hands and mouth, in the middle of a blizzard, lost who knew where.

It wasn’t his first choice as to how this all could have gone down.

Marshall didn’t say anything, just reached forward and grabbed some napkins out of the glove box (though why he had napkins if food wasn’t allowed in the car was a mystery for the ages). The two of them cleaned themselves up as best they could, and then huddled against each other, shivering.

Eventually, they fell asleep.

In the morning, when it turned out they weren’t so much lost as just pulled over to the side of the road, Marshall acted as if none of it had ever happened. Their new found camaraderie the only indication that anything had changed between them.

And Ted thought that was that. Neither of them mentioned it for the entire drive, and when they got back to school, everything was normal between them. Well, not normal. Normal had been barely contained animosity. Now they were friends. Lily came over, and spent the night. Ted still had to listen to them get each other off, and it still sent him into a jealous rage. A jealous horny rage. After they were asleep Ted jerked himself off to the memory of how Marshall had felt coming on his hand.

So yeah, everything was normal. Or new normal, anyway.

Except, the next night when Ted came back from the showers, Marshall put both hands on his shoulders and shoved him up against their closed door.

“What--?” The rest of Ted’s question was bitten off by Marshall’s tongue down his throat. Ted gasped when Marshall ran his tongue along Ted’s bottom lip, and clutched helplessly at Marshall’s shoulders. It wasn’t fair that he was so much taller than Ted. He felt trapped Marshall’s thigh jammed between his legs, and his arms on either side of Ted’s face. He couldn’t help but buck their hips together.

“Oh god,” he gasped out between kisses.

Marshall sank to his knees, and yanked Ted’s sweatpants and boxers down in one smooth motion, and put his hands on Ted’s hips pinning him helplessly to the door as Marshall sucked him off.

Ted came embarrassingly quick, and when he could see straight again, Marshall manhandled him over to their beds, bent Ted over the bottom bunk, and fucked him. Ted clutched the sheets and tried to hold onto reality.

When they were done, Ted climbed onto the top bunk and thought, _at least Lily never had this_.

Things continued. Ted knew he should feel bad for what they were doing to Lily. He knew he shouldn’t hate Lily, and mostly he didn’t. It was hard on the nights when she stayed over and Ted had to listen to them touch and kiss, and then later, have sex. He thought things between him and Marshall would stop after he and Lily had sex--but they didn’t. Sometimes at night when Lily wasn’t over, Marshall would crawl up to the top bunk, and they would lie together, making out and jerking each other off.

Ted wanted more. He wanted Marshall to be his boyfriend, as lame as that sounded. He wanted to be the one watching movies with Marshall on Friday nights, not Lily. He wanted to be the one Marshall told everything to, he wanted to walk around campus arm and arm. He wanted everything that Lily had, but he wasn’t willing to give up what he had. If that made Ted a coward he could live with it.

He could live with what he had if it meant he got to keep Marshall.

The worst part was that Ted actually liked Lily. She was fun and smart and awesome. He liked hanging out with her, and genuinely had a good time whenever the three of them spent any time together. He could almost ignore the blinding guilt he had whenever he saw Marshall and Lily together.

By the time the end of the year rolled around Ted had almost convinced himself that he would be okay when everything ended. That he wouldn’t miss what he had with Marshall.

It was the last night of freshman year, and Ted wanted to cry a little bit. Despite everything, all the guilt and anger and _everything_ that Ted had put himself through, he didn’t want to leave this year behind. He just wanted to hold on to everything as it was, because who knew if it would ever be like this again.

He looked up, when Marshall entered the room.

“Hey man,” he said.

Marshall smiled, and opened the door wider. Lily was standing next to him.

“Oh, hey, Lily,” Ted said. His smile frozen on his face.

Lily smiled, and the two of them crossed the room to sit in front of him. Lily reached out and took his hand, and Ted stared at her confused.

“What’s going on?” he asked, looking back and forth between the two of them. Marshall only smiled.

Lily stood, and straddled Ted’s hips, sitting soundly in his lap.

“What are you doing?” he asked.

Lily smiled down at him wickedly, and kissed him. She kissed like Marshall, all tongue and teeth, and Ted’s hips bucked up against hers instinctively. He pushed back on her shoulders, and she let him, leaning back a little to give Ted a view of Marshall. He was still smiling.

“What’s going on?”

Lily kissed him again on the mouth, quick. “I know,” she said.

Ted felt cold dread seep into the pit of his stomach. “W-what?” he asked.

Lily kissed him again on the mouth, on the chin, and licked a long line along his jaw to behind his ear.

“She knows everything,” Marshall told him.

Ted stood quickly, and Lily slid off his lap.

“What the fuck.” It came out like a statement, but a million questions were ringing in his ears.

“We tell each other everything,” she said.

Ted looked to Marshall again. He nodded. “Everything.”

Ted fell back into his seat with a thud. He didn’t understand what was happening. Marshall took his hand, and Ted looked back at him. “It’s okay,” he said, and leaned forward to kiss Ted on the mouth.

The two of them pushed back on Ted’s shoulders until he stood. They walked across the room, until the back of Ted’s knees his the bed. He sank down into it, and Lily and Marshall followed. It was crowded on the bottom bunk. Made for only one person, it was a tight fit for two, and almost impossible with three--especially when one of those people was a giant like Marshall was.

Lily straddled Ted’s hips again, and his hands automatically went to her sides, holding her in place. “Marshall told me everything,” she whispered against his mouth, before kissing him again. “It was hot, wasn’t it?” she asked.

Ted stared at her.

“I bet it was fucking hot,” she said, before grinding down on his hips.

“Fuck!” Ted said.

“Tell her,” Marshall said next to him. His hands were stroking Ted’s chest, and up Lily’s side. “Tell her what we did.”

“Oh god,” Ted groaned.

“He fucked you, didn’t he?” Lily whispered in his ear.

“Y-yeah,” Ted said. “He did. On this bed.”

She grinned. “What else.”

She was hunched over him, the top bunk preventing her from sitting upright. Marshall pressed on her lower back, forcing Lily to lean forward, and her hair spilled across Ted’s face. Marshall quickly removed her shirt, and Ted found himself with a lap full of topless girl.

A lap full of his roommate’s topless girlfriend. His roommate who he had been messing around with all year.

It was too much. Ted felt his breathing speed up, and not in a good way. Marshall must have noticed some of the panic in his eyes, because he put a reassuring hand on Ted’s shoulder.

“It’s okay,” he said. “Shh, Ted, it’s okay.”

“We want you,” Lily said. “We both want you so bad, Ted.” She kissed his jaw and down his neck. Marshall worked his hand between the two of him grabbing hold of Ted’s erection through his pants, and this, at last, was familiar. This Ted knew. They had been doing this all year.

Ted moved as if in a dream. Everything seemed fast and slow all at once. He watched Marshall reach down and pop open the fly on Ted’s pants, before pulling them down far enough, giving Ted the space to kick them the rest of the way off. Marshall pulled off his shirt, and shucked his pants, before reaching across to kiss Lily.

It was the same kiss Ted had been watching all year. They kissed easily, as if they were meant to do it, and he felt a spike of jealousy, even now with the two of them in his bed, touching and kissing him. It wasn’t enough, he was still on the outside.

When all their clothes were gone, Lily sank down on top of him, and Ted let out a stream of “Holy fuck, oh god,” as she rode him. Marshall had one hand was firm and heavy on his hip, holding Ted down, the other hand working between them at Lily’s clit. It felt so good. Ted reached out for Marshall, and he leaned down to kiss him.

“Fuck her,” he whispered against Ted’s mouth. “Do it Ted, fuck her, fuck her good.”

Ted’s hips rocked up into Lily, and he felt her spasm around him as she came. She collapsed over him, breathing heavy, and Marshall stroked her back, and pinched her nipples.

After a moment, Lily rolled off him and Marshall nudged his shoulder until Ted rolled over. Again, this was something he knew. Marshall had fucked him countless times on this bed, and Lily watched hungrily as they moved together now.

Marshall kept up a steady chant of Ted’s name as he drove him into the bed and Ted grunted. Lily reached forward and stroked his erection, and it was all too much. He came with a groan, Marshall not far behind him.

When they were done, the three of them lay together, a sweaty mess of limbs all tangled together.

“Why didn’t you tell me Lily knew?” Ted asked after he heard Lily drift off into sleep.

Marshall smiled and bit his shoulder. “I didn’t want to share you,” he said.

 

 

 

Lily and Marshall always told the story of how they met like a choreographed dance. They knew when to pause for laughter, and when to look lovingly at each other, and when to look at their audience. After more than ten years of listening to them go through the moves, Ted knew the story they told just as well as they did--maybe even better, after all, he was part of the story. The part of the story they didn’t tell. The part they kept just for themselves, and when he was being honest with himself, he could admit he liked it that way.


End file.
